Following the end of the Covenant War in 2553, Fred has continued to serve as the leader of Blue Team and has since participated in numerous operations under the authority of the Office of Naval Intelligence.[4] One of the few remaining Spartan-IIs, Fred holds the highest rank among his active-duty peers.[1] As of August 2558, Fred has participated in 197 individual military operations and engagements, 139 of which were full campaigns.[4]

Equipped with black body suits and MA2B assault rifles, Fred and the rest of Blue Team were brought to the Eridanus II space docks by the Halberd-class destroyerUNSC Pioneer. Once at the docks, the Spartans then infiltrated the URF-operated Parabola-class freighterLaden en route for Eridanus Secundus. While aboard the freighter, the Spartans learned that a crate of luxury goods was headed for Watts' location. The crate was tagged with a NAV marker transmitter, allowing the Spartans to track the crate to Watts' position once they reached the asteroid. When Laden arrived at one of the docking bays of Eridanus Secundus, Blue Team fought their way through Eridanus Secundus and URF soldiers until they reached Watts' apartment, located using the NAV marker they had placed on the crate. After killing several of Watts' security guards, Fred and the rest of Blue Team secured Watts inside a crate and returned to one of Eridanus Secundus' docking bays.[19] With Sam detonating several C-12 explosives on the asteroid's main hangar bay doors, the Spartans escaped the rebel facility in a stolen D77-TC Pelicandropship with Watts, as the doors blew open and the hangar bay decompressed.[20] With the mission complete, Blue Team had effectively severed the head of the United Rebel Front, at least for the time being.[18]

"Sam fell first. And yet he showed us that the Covenant could be killed. Sam proved we could win this war. Every battle won is built on the foundation of that sacrifice. If we survive this, it's because Sam showed us the way."

On April 26, 2526, Fred and the rest of Blue Team were deployed to Circinius IV to combat the Covenant invasion, as well as to evacuate civilian populations and observe Covenant invasion patterns.[4] During the battle, Blue Team received a distress signal from a cadet squad pinned down at Corbulo Academy of Military Science; these cadets were the only survivors on the entire planet. While Kelly led Blue Team north to the evacuation point, John traveled to the cadets' location to rescue them. Eventually, John and the threesurvivingcadets reached Blue Team's evacuation point and rendezvoused with Fred and Kelly, where their Pelican immediately dusted off to regroup with surviving UNSC forces in the planet's orbit as Circinius IV was glassed by the Covenant.[27]

As the other Spartans left the city with the civilians, Blue Team infiltrated the Covenant-held Côte d'Azur Museum of Natural History to investigate unusual Covenant activity. Blue Team discovered that the Covenant were scanning what appeared to be a simple piece of igneous rock, and sending the information to a ship in orbit. Fred and his compatriots quietly eliminated nearby Kig-Yar patrols inside the museum until they encountered a pair of Mgalekgolo. The Spartans battled the Mgalekgolo, though James was heavily injured in the fight. Upon John's orders, Blue Team switched to shredder rounds and fired at the floor beneath the massive aliens. The Spartans managed to make the floor collapse under the Mgalekgolo, causing them to fall into the museum's basement. To finish off the Mgalekgolo pair, Fred, Kelly, John, and the wounded James pushed a large quartz monolith into the pit, trapping the Mgalekgolo but not killing them. Recovering the rock that the Covenant were scanning, Blue Team left the museum and escaped the city by traveling through Côte d'Azur's sewer systems.[36]

Upon rendezvousing with the rest of the Spartans and surviving Marines, Fred and other nearby UNSC forces escaped the area aboard Pelicans and detonated the HAVOK at the city as they returned to Stanforth's Marathon-class heavy cruiserUNSC Leviathan in the planet's orbit.[36] As the battle ended, Battle Group Leviathan returned to Reach at the Epsilon Eridani system for repairs, with the Spartan-IIs aboard.[37]

Fred then divided his Spartans into four teams: himself, Kelly, and Joshua-029—comprising Team Alpha—were to destroy a nearby Covenant landing zone at Longhorn Valley, while Team Gamma, led by Anton-044 with two other Spartans, would rescue Vice Admiral Whitcomb and his staff. Team Delta, led by William-043 and consisting of the wounded Spartans and the Marines would secure a fallback position at CASTLE Base and the fourth team, Team Beta, consisting of the rest of the Spartans, would defend the ODG facility.[41] Operating Type-26 Banshees, Fred and Team Alpha successfully destroyed the landing zone by delivering Fury tactical nukes into the gravity lift of a Covenant cruiser overhead. However, Joshua was killed in the resulting explosion and Team Beta at the ODG facility appeared to be wiped out by Covenant battleships and cruisersglassing the area.[42] Fred and Kelly then retreated to the fallback position, which was surrounded by Covenant forces. The two Spartans were forced to commandeer Type-26 Wraith tanks, and they successfully arrived at CASTLE Base with some support from Team Delta's survivors—Will, Vinh-030, and Isaac-039. After Kelly whistled Oly Oly Oxen Free into the base's speakers, they were able to enter the facility where they encountered Halsey.[43] Despite the injuries Fred and Will suffered, with Fred having a torn Achilles tendon, three cracked ribs, and moderate contusions in both kidneys, Halsey had the two Spartans travel to another section in the base to retrieve some equipment, as they were the least injured among the Spartans.[44] After the two treated some of their injuries, Fred and Will retrieved new weapons and parts of the Mark V Mjolnir to repair their damaged armor.[45]

As the Covenant attempted to make their way into CASTLE Base, the five Spartans and Halsey were forced to destroy the facility as part of Operation: WHITE GLOVE. The group escaped into abandoned mining caverns under Reach's surface, while CASTLE Base exploded behind them.[46] However, once inside the caverns, the group found themselves trapped underground for several days, until they came across a Forerunnerinstallation, where they discovered a mysterious Forerunner crystal. The artifact created a spike in radiation that allowed the Covenant to triangulate their position. The Covenant breached the underground complex, and used a gravity lift to send massive amounts of ground forces to the humans' location. The humans then ran into a cavern and blew up the entrance, resulting in the presumed deaths of Vinh and Isaac. However, the cavern only led to a dead end and for two days Fred, Kelly, Will, and Halsey were trapped in the cavern as the Covenant tried to dig them out.[47]

Fred's injuries were finally treated aboard Gettysburg, where the severely injured Linda was also located. He then took part in the Spartans' extra-vehicular mission to repair a plasma conduit on the ship, holding his own against cloakingSangheili as well as the dangerous rampant plasma bolts floating around the slipspace bubble the ships were trapped in as a result of the Forerunner crystal aboard. After repairing the conduit, Polaski picked up the group in the Covenant dropship but, while returning to Ascendant Justice, a stray plasma bolt hit the dropship, killing Anton, Li, and Polaski and rendering Fred and the surviving Spartans unconscious.[51] The Spartans were eventually brought back aboard Ascendant Justice–Gettysburg, and the ship hybrid eventually escaped the Covenant by returning to normal space. The Spartans recovered aboard Gettysburg, where they learned that the Covenant had discovered the coordinates to Earth; furthermore, the Forerunner crystal emitted a deadly radiation in slipspace that would kill the crew by the time they arrived at Earth.[52] Seeking both an alternative way to Earth and repairs for Ascendant Justice–Gettysburg, the ships traveled to the Eridanus system to request aid from the United Rebel Front at Eridanus Secundus, with Fred helping Whitcomb and Haverson man the ships' stations.[53]

Arriving at Eridanus Secundus on September 12, 2552, Fred and John accompanied Whitcomb, Halsey, and Haverson into the asteroid after the URF, under the leadership of GovernorJacob Jiles, reluctantly agreed to repair Ascendant Justice–Gettysburg. As the group discussed the current situation with Jiles, a Covenant cruiser suddenly arrived in the system, having tracked Ascendant Justice–Gettysburg by following the radiation emitted by the crystal in slipspace.[53] Fred and the others returned to their ships to combat the cruiser, with Fred manning the engineering station of Gettysburg. The humans were eventually able to destroy the cruiser and Jiles agreed to have the URF repair their vessels before the next wave of Covenant ships arrived.[54] Fred and the rest of Blue Team, including the recently healed Kelly and Linda, were then given some time to rest and repair their equipment, where they discussed their next best course of action with Johnson and Locklear. They realized that the Covenant fleet headed to Earth was grouping at Unyielding Hierophant—a command-and-control station in the Tau Ceti system—and decided that attacking the station would be the best way to weaken the Covenant's inevitable attack on Earth.[55] While preparing for the Covenant's next attack, Halsey sedated Kelly and left the system with her aboard Jiles' flagship to follow coordinates she had taken from ColonelJames Ackerson that led to a world with numerous pieces of Forerunner technology.[56] Shortly after, Locklear destroyed the Forerunner crystal to prevent it from falling into Covenant hands, killing himself in the process. Ascendant Justice–Gettysburg and its crew were ultimately forced to abandon the URF when a fleet of thirty Covenant ships arrived at the asteroid. The Spartans then began to enact Operation: FIRST STRIKE.[57]

The next day, the Spartans were deployed from Ascendant Justice–Gettysburg in a Type-25 Spirit dropship while in slipspace. The dropship exited slipspace and arrived at Tau Ceti, where Fred and Blue Team infiltrated Unyielding Hierophant with assistance from Cortana.[58] While traveling to the station's reactor, Blue Team was ambushed by Jiralhanae and Grace was killed. After eliminating the Covenant soldiers, Fred and the surviving Spartans set the station's reactors to overload.[59] Fred then escaped Unyielding Hierophant with John, Will, and Linda aboard Banshees, where they rendezvoused with Gettysburg—now detached from Ascendant Justice and equipped with the Covenant carrier's slipspace drive—at a nearby moon. While Whitcomb and Haverson sacrificed themselves to lure the Covenant fleet closer to the station in Ascendant Justice, the Spartans escaped to Earth on Gettysburg with Johnson. The detonation caught almost the entire fleet in the explosion, with all but twelve ships being destroyed in the blast.[60]

Shortly after their return to Earth, Gettysburg docked with the Borneo Space Tether and Fred and Linda descended the space elevator to report on Operation: FIRST STRIKE to a council of ONI officers, where they warned them of the Covenant's inevitable invasion of Earth.[48] During the opening stages of the Covenant invasion of Earth, Fred was subjected to a psychological analysis by ONI's Doctor Veronica Clayton. The doctor became increasingly vitriolic toward Fred, seemingly blaming him for the deaths of his teammates at the Fall of Reach after giving the order to jump from Bravo 001. However, Fleet AdmiralTerrence Hood, who had not authorized the analysis, soon arrived and had Clayton escorted away. He then told Fred to return to Blue Team and assist in Earth's defense.[62]

As the Battle of Earth begun, Fred, Linda, and Will were sent to defend Earth for two weeks shortly after the Covenant arrived in the Sol system on October 20, 2552; John had followed the High Prophet of Regret's Solemn Penance to HaloInstallation 05 aboard UNSC In Amber Clad shortly after the battle began.[63] Blue Team participated in several extra-vehicular missions to repel Covenant ships in orbit over Earth, as well as several missions on the planet's surface; including, an operation to Mount Erebus to neutralize a Covenant excavation with a HAVOK nuke, and to the Yucatan Peninsula to eliminate Covenant forces on the nearby seafloor. On November 3, 2552, Blue Team was deployed to Havana, Cuba to eliminate Covenant forces attacking the Centennial Orbital Elevator. While Fred secured the elevator's ascent car, Will and Linda destroyed a Scarab with a gasoline tanker truck. Discovering that the Covenant was attempting to steal twelve FENRIS nuclear warheads, Blue Team ascended the elevator and requested a low-orbit extraction. However, Hood contacted them and ordered Fred to led Blue Team to Onyx to assist Halsey, who claimed that she had discovered a large cache of Forerunner technology on the planet.[64] When the Covenant deployed dropships to retrieve the nukes, Blue Team hid aboard one and the Covenant inadvertently brought them aboard CPV-class heavy destroyerBloodied Spirit. While some of the nukes destroyed another Covenant destroyer and the space elevator in the process, Fred and Blue Team fought their way through Bloodied Spirit and eventually reached the bridge, where they killed its crew by venting the destroyer's atmosphere. Fred inputted coordinates to Onyx in the Zeta Doradus system into the destroyer's navigation computer and Bloodied Spirit entered slipspace for the planet.[65]

"As acting CO of Team Blue, I am hereby granting you a field commission to the rank of Lieutenant, Junior Grade. Congratulations. As an officer, you'll have to keep your eye on the larger picture, Fred. Get your team through that slipspace field. I'll be right behind you."

— Lieutenant Commander Kurt-051 promoting Fred-104 to lieutenant at the end of the Battle of Onyx[66]

While en route to Onyx, Bloodied Spirit was brought out of slipspace by the Covenant, where the destroyer was forced into a conflict between Sangheili heavy cruiserIncorruptible and three Jiralhanae frigates as the Great Schism emerged within the Covenant. While Bloodied Spirit was able to escape the conflict, the Covenant learned that the destroyer was under Spartan control. However, ShipmasterVoro 'Mantakree of Incorruptible had intercepted Halsey's message and learned of the Forerunner cache on Onyx. 'Mantakree later met with a coalition of allied Sangheili, where Imperial AdmiralXytan 'Jar Wattinree charged 'Mantakree with leading a fleet to recover the Onyx technology.[65] Upon arriving at Onyx, Bloodied Spirit was engaged by Onyx Sentinels in orbit. As the ship crashed on the surface, Blue Team escaped in a Spirit dropship. On the surface, Fred, Will, and Linda regrouped and soon met with Kelly, who had been brought to Onyx with Halsey after the events in the Eridanus system.[67] Kelly brought them to the thought-to-be-dead Kurt and the five Spartan-IIs began running to evade the oncoming Sentinels, with the help of Spartan-III Team Saber of Gamma Company. The Spartans rendezvoused with Halsey, Mendez, and Lucy-B091 and Tom-B292 of Beta Company, where Kurt explained to his fellow Spartan-IIs and Halsey that he and Mendez had spent the last two decades training the Spartan-IIIs on Onyx. With Kurt taking command of all UNSC forces, the Spartans began combating the Sentinels.[68]

Returning to Blue Team's dropship, the humans embarked towards a Forerunner city within the restricted Zone 67 aboard the Spirit. Landing in the city, Kurt had Fred, Linda, and Holly-G003 and Mark-G313 of Team Saber scout out the surrounding area with grappling rounds while the others examined Onyx's map room, located by Will. Just as Halsey located the missing Team Katana's location on Onyx, now-Fleet Master Voro Nar 'Mantakree's fleet arrived at Onyx while a massive force of Sentinels hovered overhead above the humans.[69] 'Mantakree led Sangheili, Mgalekgolo and Unggoy ground forces to the planet's surface while the humans prepared to fend off their attackers. During the ensuring battle, Fred was hit in the chest by a Mgalekgolo's assault cannon, injuring him. He was pulled to safety by Lucy and Saber's Dante-G188, as he recovered. The humans moved to the map room for cover, though Dante was killed.[70] Discovering that they could escape Onyx in the planet's core via a slipspace portal that was about to close, Halsey utilized Onyx's slipspace translocation system. Before they could teleport to Team Katana's location, Onyx AI Endless Summer revealed that the Sentinels would destroy Admiral Carl Patterson's battle group in orbit after they inevitably destroyed the Sangheili ships. Realizing that the battle group was sent to rescue the Spartans, Kurt agreed with Endless Summer to destroy the Sentinel manufacturing facility to give the battle group a better chance of survival. The Spartans were subsequently teleported to the facility, where they succeeded in destroying it. However, the humans soon learned that Patterson's battle group had been destroyed with the arrival of a larger Sangheili fleet. Fred and the others then recovered Spartan-III Team Katana, though the Spartans were trapped in slipspace field pods. Afterwards, the humans headed for Onyx's core room and made a final stand against the Covenant forces at a slipspace portal which Halsey theorized to lead into a "shield world".[71]

As 'Mantakree led an assault on the core in an effort to claim Onyx for himself, the Spartans attempted to repel the aliens as the slipspace portal began closing. During the battle, both Holly and Will were killed and several of the Spartans were severely wounded. With the humans being overrun, Kurt ordered everyone to retreat into the slipspace rift while he would stay behind to ensure their attackers did not follow them. Before Fred and the rest of Blue Team entered, however, Kurt promoted Fred to the rank of lieutenant, junior grade and gave him command of Blue Team. While Fred, Mendez, Halsey, and the other surviving Spartans—consisting of Kelly, Linda, Tom, Lucy, Mark, Ash-G099, Olivia-G291, and Team Katana—traveled through the portal, Kurt sacrificed himself to wipe out 'Mantakree's forces.[72]

"Dante and Holly gave their lives fighting. Kurt stayed behind and made sure the Covenant wouldn't follow us. Now it's our duty to complete the mission: find Forerunner technologies and get them back to Earth. Doing anything less would dishonor their sacrifices."

Having passed through the slipspace rift, Fred and the rest of the human survivors found themselves inside a massive Dyson sphere contained within a slipspace bubble of compressed space-time in the heart of what used to be Onyx. After the Spartans, Halsey, and Mendez held a funeral for their comrades that had died in the battle at Onyx, Fred led them to search for Forerunner technologies and a way to return back to Earth.[74] After the survivors had explored the sphere for several days—over three months in normal space-time—they discovered a group of Huragok which helped them establish contact with the ONI ships outside the sphere and eventually bring the sphere back into normal space.[75] They were then recovered by the ONI team Kilo-Five led by CaptainSerin Osman and taken to a debriefing in HIGHCOM Facility Bravo-6 aboard prowlerUNSC Port Stanley.[76] Fred, along with the rest of the surviving Spartan-IIs, were present in the Voi Memorial ceremony at Kenya, Earth on March 3, 2553.[77]

Following their recovery from Onyx, Fred led Blue Team—now comprising of Kelly, Linda, Tom, Lucy, Ash, Mark, and Olivia—on several operations. In the post-war era, Blue Team was deployed to the outer fringes of human space to eliminate hostile Covenant remnant factions. These highly classified operations lasted for several years and were under ONI's direct oversight.[1]One of these operations saw Fred and Blue Team rescue Unified Earth Government diplomatic personnel and eliminate several insurrectionists on the human colony of Andesia. Fred also participated in Operation: CARRION HEART, though the specifics of this mission remain highly classified.[4]

In May 2553, Blue Team was attached to ONI's 717th Xeno-Materials Exploitation Battalion. The research battalion was deployed to the Outer Colony of Gao to search for Forerunner ancillaIntrepid Eye, an archeon-class ancilla that had been detected on the planet by the battalion's CommanderMurtag Nelson. The UNSC's presence on the planet was largely undesired by the traditionally independent Gao.[79] Upon learning of the UNSC's intent to capture her, Intrepid Eye began murdering Gao citizens in the Montero Cave System in an effort to create distrust and discord throughout Gao. The Gao Ministry of Protection was tasked with finding the murderer and Nelson had members of Blue Team aid Special InspectorVeta Lopis in her efforts to allow the UNSC to return searching for the ancilla without Gao interference.[80] During the investigation, Lopis became certain that the murderer was one of the Spartans and often pestered Fred for details on the battalion's mission, much to the Spartan's annoyance.[79] On July 4, 2553, Fred, Ash, Olivia, and Mark were exploring the Montero Cave System alongside Lopis and her partner Cirilo, where they discovered the bodies of MajorIra Halal and PrivateHayes, who had been murdered by Intrepid Eye. As they moved deeper into the cave system, eventually emerging into a larger cavern, the last four remaining Sentinels attacked the humans while Intrepid Eye watched nearby. Though the Spartans were able to destroy the Sentinels, Cirilo was killed and Olivia was wounded.[81] Ordering the others to stay put, Fred left to investigate a nearby cave-in.[82]

Fred in Gao's Montero Cave System.

Descending into a pit in the cavern's floor, Fred discovered Intrepid Eye's damaged Covert Support Base 4276. When Fred approached the facility's corrupted vacuum energy extractor, he was caught inside a space-time anomaly; while over two hours had elapsed on the outside, Fred had only felt the passing of ten minutes. Wary of exploring the mysterious facility alone, he left to regroup with the rest of his team to return to the surface and report to Nelson, along with the recently discovered Lifeworker Huragok Roams Alone.[83] While the group continued towards Gao's surface, the battalion's encampments at the Montero Vitality Center and at the village of Wendosa were attacked by insurrectionists and the Keepers of the One Freedom, who sought to take Gao's ancilla for themselves. Meanwhile, the Gamma Company Spartan-IIIs had run out of their "Smoothers", drugs that controlled their more unpredictable augmentations. After having lost contact with Mark who was supposed to scout the area ahead, Fred, Ash, and Roams Alone departed to look for him.[84] The three soon encountered dead Keeper forces killed by Mark. Meanwhile, Mark had returned to Olivia's and Lopis' position, helping the two fight off hostile forces.[85]

Once the team regrouped, they fought their way past Keeper forces as they attempted to return to the surface. Seeking to be caught in order to gain access to UNSC communications, Intrepid Eye revealed herself to Fred in her inspection drone shell and allowed him to capture her with a scramble grenade. Finally returning to the surface at Wendosa, Fred created a plan to attack the Keepers and aid the battalion and the rest of Blue Team under attack at the village.[86] In the ensuing firefight, Intrepid Eye convinced Roams Alone to free her and she escaped, jamming all communications on the planet. Fred pursued the ancilla and recaptured her, only to find Mark—now paranoid and aggressive without his Smoothers—holding a knife to a Marine sergeant. After coaxing Mark to release the Marine, the sergeant informed Fred that he was to return to the Vitality Center with the ancilla. Reluctantly boarding a Falcon, Fred departed for the center, but the aircraft was shot down by Keeper forces.[87] While Keeper forces attacked the crash-site to retrieve Intrepid Eye, Fred's armor's mechanical joints locked up, preventing him from moving. Blue Team and Lopis arrived at the crash and, with the eventual help of Alpha Company, fended off the Keepers.[88] Fred and the other injured Spartans were later brought to the Vitality Center to recover. Meanwhile, the Gao Republic's militia attempted to forcefully remove the UNSC from the planet by attacking the battalion.[89]

While the UNSC was preparing to evacuate, Intrepid Eye murdered Nelson and attempted to kill Lopis, but the ancilla was disabled by a Marine and Fred rescued Lopis.[90] Determined to prevent the support base from falling into the hands of Gao rebels, Blue Team, Lopis, and Roams Alone embarked to destroy the facility with a HAVOK nuclear warhead, while the rest of the battalion evacuated. Pursued by Gao battle-jumpers and Wyverns, the team traveled to the support base's entrance at the Well of Echoes in Warthogs. During the battle, Roams Alone departed from the rest of the team to tend to Gao's wildlife, while Intrepid Eye managed to take control of Fred's armor and attempted to kill Lopis. However, Lopis detonated a small charge she had earlier placed in Fred's armor in case he was the Gao murderer, leaving the armor powerless and forcing Fred to abandon it.[91] Finally arriving at the Well of Echoes, the team boarded the OwlSilent Claw, commanded by Osman, and dropped the HAVOK into the Well of Echoes, destroying the Forerunner base as they fled the planet.[92] With Intrepid Eye successfully captured, the UNSC left Gao. To avoid the public finding out about the dangers of the Gamma Company Spartan-IIIs' augmentations, Osman had Ash, Mark, and Olivia officially marked as killed in action and transferred to a classified "Ferret" covert operations team of which she gave command of to Lopis, much to the rest of Blue Team's initial reluctance.[93] Shortly after, Tom and Lucy were transferred from Blue Team to the emerging Spartan branch, leaving Blue Team once again composed of only Spartan-IIs.[94]

In December of 2553, Fleet AdmiralGraselyn Tuwa was assassinated and her family was abducted. Blue Team was tasked by ONI with assisting Veta Lopis and her relatively new team of Spartan-IIIs in identifying the killer and rescuing the hostages.

"I will allow you a moment more to fire the weapon, human. I will grant you the gift of dying a warrior."

— The Ur-Didact to Fred-104, allowing Fred to shoot him with a Boltshot[95]

Fred and Blue Team engaging several Promethean Knights on Installation 03.

On July 26, 2557, Fred, Kelly and Linda were reunited with John-117 after he returned from the Forerunner shield world of Requiem. Shortly after the Didact's defeat at the hands of John over Earth, Fleet Admiral Hood tasked Blue Team with a mission to investigate an attack on a local science team and Black Team on Installation 03, with John serving in an active role rather than advisory despite Hood's suggestions. Traveling to the installation, Blue Team landed near the UNSC facility on the Halo aboard a Longsword, where Linda found tracks left by a Promethean Crawler. Arriving at the facility, Blue Team soon found the bodies of Black Team and the scientists. After John noted to his squadmates that he doubted the Crawlers could kill four Spartans, Blue Team was attacked by Promethean Knights. Blue Team quickly destroyed the Knights, with Fred stabbing one in its "head", killing it. They continued following the Crawlers' tracks and came to where the Composer was originally located. Kelly found a tunnel which they followed down, soon finding the Composer's Abyss where they entered a slipspace portal.[96]

Blue Team fleeing numerous Promethean constructs at the Composer's Forge.

The Spartans arrived in a deserted Forerunner city where they soon discovered the Composer's Forge and six intact Composers housed therein. The Spartans were then confronted by the thought-to-be-dead Didact and a firefight broke out between them and the Didact's newly created Promethean machines. While Fred and the other Spartans battled the Prometheans, the Didact had monitor859 Static Carillon bring Installation 03 to the Composer's Forge and departed to the Halo installation with one of the Composers, intending to use the device, as well as Gamma Halo, against Earth. Disgusted by the Didact's actions, Static Carillon informed Blue Team of the Didact's plan, and the Spartans pursued the Forerunner through the portal back to Installation 03. Upon their return to the surface, the Didact attacked the Spartans, intending to kill them once and for all.[95] The Didact threw John into Fred, knocking them both to the ground. Linda and Kelly attacked the Forerunner, but he easily overpowered them, blasting Kelly backwards and tackling Linda to the ground. The Didact allowed Fred to shoot him in the head with a Z-110 Boltshot—to no effect—so he could give Fred the honor of "dying a warrior". However, before the Didact could finish them off, Static Carillon appeared behind the Forerunner and disabled him with his laser beam. The monitor then teleported the Didact to Gamma Halo's control room to prevent him from killing the Spartans. While John went to pursue the Didact, Fred and the rest of Blue Team returned to their Longsword. After John successfully "contained" the Didact by way of subjecting him to the combined effects of several Composers, Static Carillon teleported himself and John into Blue Team's Longsword. Fred asked the monitor where the ring would be taken, but no response was given; Static Carillon then left to repair the ring and Blue Team returned to Earth.[97]

Returning to Earth, John was debriefed by Hood, where the fleet admiral gave orders for Blue Team to have some rest after years of combat. However, the rest of the team instead left to take on new missions, all of them highly classified.[97] These operations included diplomatic escorts through hostile territory, counter-piracy efforts against salvagers, and strikes against Covenant outposts. At one point in 2558, the team was stationed at the construction site for a new ONI research facility, awaiting orders.[98] Without warning, explosions signaled an attack from fanatical ex-Covenant. During the fighting that followed, the hostiles managed to capture an M510 Mammoth, disable its governor, and drive it down a steep hillside toward the site's main fusion reactor. Blue Team followed in pursuit in an M12 Warthog LRV, with Fred driving. With only about a minute left before it impacted the reactor, John, Kelly, and Linda ejected from the Warthog when it was close enough to the Mammoth. The three of them just narrowly managed to wrest control of the hulking vehicle from its Kig-Yar and Sangheili hijackers and steer it away from disaster.[98] However, the near miss still resulted in the destruction of a decent amount of fabricated material that had been constructed. The manager in charge of the construction project rushed over to Fred and the other Spartans after the smoke cleared and demanded to know who he should blame for the damage. John, who had taken the Mammoth's controls, took responsibility. The incredulous man accused the Master Chief of thinking he could get away with anything because of his status as a hero. At this moment, Fred jumped in to reprimand the thankless individual they had all just saved, finding it difficult to maintain an easy demeanor in the face of such disrespect. John kept a cooler head and directed the team to return to a nearby airstrip, as their mission orders had come in.[98]

At some point, Fred and the three others returned to the glassed remains of Reach, where they recalled their past and paid their respects to Sam, who had died so many years ago.[10]

After the loss of contact with Office of Naval Intelligence's research and development station Argent Moon, Fred and the rest of Blue Team were deployed by UNSC Infinity to recover the facility on October 23, 2558; the station had been rediscovered when a group of Kig-Yar scavengers sold it to Jul 'Mdama's Covenant. Using a D79-TC Pelican to travel to the station's position within a dense asteroid belt, the four Spartans left the dropship and used their thrusters to reach Argent Moon. As they neared, Fred and Blue Team fired their weapons to weaken a glass window in the station before smashing through it themselves, ejecting the Covenant forces inside the room into space while the Spartans activated their magnetic boots to stay in place.[34]

The Spartans fought their way through the station, clearing it of Covenant occupants. During the engagement, John received an apparent vision from the thought-to-be-dead Cortana, simply warning him that "Meridian was next". John informed his teammates of this, though Fred asserted that it was impossible, since John himself confirmed her death over Earth the previous year. Setting the vision aside, Fred and Blue Team attempted to continue their salvage mission until a large Covenant fleet arrived in the system, bringing word of 'Mdama's death on Kamchatka. Deciding Argent Moon was no longer salvageable due to the presence of the Covenant fleet, John switched the mission to asset denial, and the Spartans used Covenant Type-54 Banshees to damage the reactor and trigger an overload. Mission accomplished, John reassigned himself to Meridian to investigate Cortana's message, against the orders of Infinity, after learning the UNSC was already planning to do the same. He attempted to convince Blue Team that they did not need to follow him, but all three members declared their solidarity with him and joined him aboard the prowlerONI Acrisius, which they used to escape the self-destructingArgent Moon, avoid the Covenant fleet, and depart for Meridian in the Hestia system.[34]

Blue Team in the Guardian's shelter.

The very next day, the UNSC listed Blue Team as absent-without-leave. Fireteam Osiris, a Spartan-IV unit led by Spartan Jameson Locke, was tasked by the UNSC Security Council with recovering Blue Team and Acrisius. Upon arriving at Meridian, Blue Team landed at Apogee Station and were directed to the mines of the world by Meridian's Governor Sloan—a smart AI aligned with Cortana—where a dormant Guardian lay buried. Blue Team's arrival was witnessed by multiple colonists, who were wholly unaware of their intentions. Also unbeknownst to the people of Meridian was the fact that Sloan purposefully ensured nobody tried to stop them. Blue Team encountered no resistance from the mechanical Prometheans that were protecting the Guardian, under Cortana's orders.[99] Cortana had Fred and the rest of Blue Team make their way to a Guardian which would take them to her position. As the Spartan-IIs prepared to board the Guardian, Osiris arrived at their position and attempted to halt them. While Fred, Kelly, and Linda proceeded to enter the portal leading to the Guardian, John lingered and had an altercation with Locke. Once John had dealt with him and resumed boarding, the Guardian began to awaken. Fireteam Osiris scrambled to escape the collapsing cavern it had been held in as it rose out of the ground. The Guardian caused massive amounts of destruction to Meridian's settlements as it took to the air, both from the very fact that it was emerging from beneath the earth and from electromagnetic shockwaves it sent out continually. During this time, many Prometheans were deployed from the Guardian to engage Fireteam Osiris as they moved to escape the destruction in their Pelican. The Guardian eventually jumped to slipspace on a course for Cortana's location, taking Blue Team with it.[100]

"Chief, back on Meridian—there was a lot of destruction. There were civilians."

— Fred, expressing concern at the collateral damage of awakening a Guardian[101]

Fred and the others watch as Guardians continually arrive at Genesis.

Arriving at the Forerunner world of Genesis, the Spartans disembarked from their Guardian and landed on the planet's surface. Fred questioned John as to why Cortana would have brought them there, though he did not receive an answer. As Blue Team moved out to explore the planet, they encountered terminals that emitted an audible "Oly Oly Oxen Free" signal. Interfacing with the terminals to continue their search for Cortana, Fred made note of the enormous casualties that the Guardian had inflicted on Meridian, though Kelly argued that Cortana may not have know that they would be the result of its activation. Proceeding further, Fred alerted the team to the presence of Covenant scattered across Genesis, drawn through the slipspace portals of other Guardians activated across the galaxy. Quickly eliminating the small pockets of Covenant forces, Blue Team encountered a clearing filled with a significant number of dead Covenant soldiers, and were confronted by the Warden Eternal, who introduced himself as keeper of the Domain and Cortana's protector. The Warden translocated Promethean forces to the area to try to kill Blue Team, declaring that while Cortana wanted them to ally with her, he perceived them as a severe threat to her plan.[101]

Fighting through the Promethean forces, Blue Team was finally contacted by Cortana, who expressed relief and joy to see them. Cortana explained that she had survived her apparent destruction at Earth by being pulled into slipspace aboard a chunk of Mantle's Approach, the ship of the Didact that had attempted to enter slipspace to flee its concurrent destruction. Arriving on Genesis, Cortana managed to access the Domain and "cured" herself of rampancy. Moreover, she explained that the cure for rampancy had inspired her to take up the Mantle of Responsibility alongside her fellow AIs, calling themselves the Created. The Created was to strategize and coordinate in the long term to benefit the galaxy and usher in an age of peace and stability. Fred initially believed that Cortana's plan had some merit and did not understand why the Warden expected them to oppose it, but John asserted that the Didact made it clear that the Mantle could lead to brutal imperialist oppression, a suggestion which Cortana dismissed off-handedly. Cortana claimed that she explain her plan better once they were together and she directed them to Genesis' Gateway. Utilizing Promethean Z-1800 Phaetons, Fred and Blue Team embarked towards the Gateway. Once they reached the facility, Blue Team stepped through another slipspace portal which teleported them to the Gateway's interior.[101] However, Cortana was waiting for the rest of her Guardians to arrive at Genesis and instead had Blue Team wandering around the Gateway in circles for hours. At this time, Fred and Blue Team came to the realization that Cortana was truly dangerous.[102]

Blue Team fires on the Warden Eternal.

While in the Gateway, Blue Team was unexpectedly contacted by Osiris, who had activated a Guardian under Sunaion on Sanghelios in order to reach Genesis. Locke insisted that they were there under orders from Doctor Halsey to assist, rather than capture them, and that Cortana was deliberately activating Guardians across known space. Cortana blocked further radio contact with them before Locke could explain any further. Genesis' monitor, 031 Exuberant Witness, directed Fireteam Osiris to Blue Team's position and when the Spartans met up, they agreed to work together. However, Cortana promptly teleported Blue Team out of the area.[102] Now at another part of the Gateway, Blue Team was attacked by the Warden again, though Cortana quickly dissolved his physical form. However, the Warden remained determined to stop the Spartans and sent Prometheans to engage them. Blue Team continued to angrily question Cortana on her plan, with the Warden using the questions as proof of the Spartans' disloyalty to her. The Warden himself continued to attempt to engage the Spartans, though most of his efforts were thwarted by Cortana. Eventually, Fred and Blue Team reached Cortana's position, where she revealed herself now in a physical, hard light body. Rejecting Cortana's plan, John ordered her to stand down and return to Earth with them. Cortana refused and sealed Blue Team in a Cryptum, intending to keep them in stasis for 10,000 years while she enacted her plan.[103] As Cortana dispersed her Guardians across the galaxy to carry out the Created's rule, Cortana herself prepared to leave in a Guardian with Blue Team's Cryptum. However, Fireteam Osiris and Exuberant Witness succeeded in freeing the Cryptum seconds before Cortana departed Genesis. The monitor had Constructors free Blue Team from the Cryptum, and the Spartan-IIs approached Osiris. Locke revealed that Cortana and her Guardians were gone.

Following Cortana’s departure, both Blue Team and Fireteam Osiris together fought their way through hordes of Promethean constructs to reach a D79-TC Pelican that had previously arrived on the planet via a Guardian's slipspace entry. Based on Osiris' recommendation, they agreed to return to Sanghelios; the joint team requested Witness’ help, who opened a Slipspace portal for them.[104]

Upon their arrival at Sanghelios, they deduced that surviving allies might be hiding in the region of Nuusra. Sure enough, they located the Swords of Sanghelios’ makeshift campsite in the cliffs and touched down, reuniting with Halsey, the Arbiter, and Palmer.[105][106]

Ira Halal: "I didn't know Spartans came equipped with a sense of humor. Does that cost extra?"

Fred-104: "No, sir. It's more of an operational bug."

— Major Ira Halal and Frederic-104, during Operation: JOVIAN WHISTLE[107]

Frederic-104, at the age of 15.

Frederic-104 is a natural leader and a brilliant strategist.[108] Highly intelligent, alert, and objective-focused during operations, Fred often appears solemn and stoic when interacting with other personnel of the United Nations Space Command.[4] However, he had difficulty hiding his emotions at times, a trait that Doctor Catherine Halsey was aware of.[109] A quick thinker,[108] Fred has learned to rely on his instincts while on patrol or in the heat of a battle, noting that it had saved his life from dozens of ambushes.[110] His augmentations and training has crafted Fred into one of the UNSC's greatest military minds.[111] He is very observant; after years of watching soldiers face their fears, Fred is able to identify tell-tale signs of individuals encountering their fears and weaknesses, such as loss of focus and body tension. He did not always agree with or trust the judgement of his commanding officers, though Fred remains respectful to his superiors. However, he refuses to be intimidated by "key-tapper" officers, jesting that the day he is will be the day he turns in his armor and resigns.[79] Despite his stoic and serious demeanor, Fred occasionally makes jokes or sarcastic quips in the midst of a battle or mission, once jesting to MajorIra Halal that it is "an operational bug".[107]

Fred with the rest of Blue Team.

As a Spartan, Fred has a strong sense of duty and commitment towards the UNSC and his closest peers, and is always to accomplish the goals set before him and achieve victory in ever tactical situation.[62] As with many of his fellow Spartan-IIs, Fred preferred to fight on a world's surface rather than in zero-gravity environments that were typically encountered in off-world operations. Regardless, Fred often chose to volunteer for space operations as he sought to participate in missions that presented greater threats and dangers.[112] Fred was always eager to battle the Covenant to defend any world, though he was particularly determined to save Reach, viewing the planet as an invaluable military resource and his home.[113] Fred noted that other personnel of the UNSC looked upon Spartan-IIs with awe, suspicion, and fear. However, Fred, like many of the Spartan-IIs, dislikes the special treatment he and the other Spartans receive from ordinary humans and does not elevate himself above baseline troops, believing they all served the UNSC for the same reasons.[114] Fred is ever pedant in following protocol; during his operation on Gao, Fred was irritated that several of his superiors continued to violate Foxtrot Tango Angel 7012 by revealing classified information on the Forerunners to civilians.[80] Although Fred's service with the UNSC throughout the Insurrection and Human-Covenant War has left him as a highly decorated individual, he refrains from wearing his awards.[4]

Although his conscription into the SPARTAN-II program prevented him from living a normal life, Fred feels no resentment towards Halsey nor Mendez. He believes that had he lived a normal life, he might have been killed by the Covenant and his career as a Spartan has instead enabled him to fulfill his full potential.[115] In an "interview" with Doctor Veronica Clayton, Fred stated that he would never ask to change who he was and was proud to be a Spartan.[62] When given the offer to access his file on his origins and past life, Fred declined.[77]

"I'm secure in my role and the tactical decisions I make before, during, and following combat, and so are my peers."

— Frederic-104 to Doctor Veronica Clayton, shortly before the Battle of Earth[116]

Fred served as Blue Team's leader for years.

Frederic-104 is a tactically proficient and strategically capable leader,[1] having displayed these characteristics throughout the Human-Covenant War.[108] While also serving as an incredibly effective combatant, Fred specializes in strategy, information management, and using his leadership skills to transform disparate combat units into a comprehensive fighting force, even when he only has access to the barest information on troop dispensation. Fred has a stabilizing influence on the morale of those under his command, a trait that is of interest to Office of Naval Intelligence psychologists.[4]

Fred cares greatly for those under his command, regardless of whether they are Spartans, Marines, or other UNSC personnel and he took full responsibility of their lives, bearing a heavy, personal burden with each casualty.[62] He would ensure the safety of his team before even considering his own well-being; Fred once noted that he could only think clearly when the safety of his team was at stake.[117] During the battle at Wendosa, Fred was reluctant to follow orders to evacuate, as he would be leaving behind those under his command.[87] Fred was willing to defer command and leadership to those that he both respected and trusted. During the Battle of Onyx, while Fred was given command of Blue Team, he was quick to respectfully relinquish his command to Lieutenant CommanderKurt-051.[68] After Blue Team reunited with John, despite being two pay grades higher than him, Fred allowed John to become the de facto leader of the unit, with John even attaining the call sign of "Blue Leader".[7]

Often serving as a leader of Spartan fireteams, Fred has been noted to take the responsibility of his command with grim seriousness,[1] empathizing too deeply with any wounded member of his team.[118] During the Fall of Reach, Fred's quick-thinking and leadership ensured that the entirety of Red Team escaped their doomed Pelican before it was destroyed, though the resulting landing led to the deaths of four Spartans. Despite Kelly's support and that Fred had prevented the death of the entire team, he blamed himself for the deaths of these Spartans and felt disgusted with himself.[119] After the death of Joshua-029, Fred bitterly thought to himself that Joshua's life was not worth the lives of the ten thousand Covenant soldiers killed in the same explosion.[120] Ultimately, the Fall of Reach saw the highest single death count of Spartan-IIs, which severely affected Fred. In following engagements, he learned to adapt to severe casualties on the battlefield and is by many considered the most capable fireteam leader of all Spartans.[1] Fred has since become confident in his role as leader and in the tactical decisions he made, as are his peers and subordinates.[116]

Fred has close relationships with many of his fellow Spartans, particularly with fellow regular members of Blue Team. He is an ally and close friend to John-117, having trained alongside him since the early days of the SPARTAN-II program.[1] Fred often defers to John for tactical direction.[4] After learning that John was believed to be dead following the Battle of Installation 00, Fred was deeply saddened and commented that he never expected John to have died before him.[121] Following Blue Team's reunion with John in 2557, Fred grew concerned over his friend's mental health as John restlessly continued to press himself during the missions Blue Team undertook. After John decided to go absent-without-leave to find Cortana, Fred and the rest of Blue Team willingly followed.[34]

Fred is close with fellow Blue Team members.

During the Covenant War, Fred often worried about the statuses of his fellow Spartans who were away on other missions. While the doubt eroded his confidence, Fred never mentioned his worries to his fellow teammates to avoid damaging their morale.[65]Kelly-087 often served as Fred's second-in-command when John was not present. The two are close friends, with Kelly attempting to console Fred after his stress in battle led to him making the mistake of broadcasting orders across FLEETCOM 7 rather than a private channel.[40] Fred was also close with Kurt-051 and was saddened by his supposed death in the Groombridge 34 system in 2531. After encountering Kurt on Onyx in 2552, Fred placed a hand on Kurt's shoulder as a rare emotional gesture among Spartans.[68] After Fred realized Kurt's intent to sacrifice himself to allow the rest of Blue Team to escape through a slipspace portal, Fred was reluctant to leave his friend behind and the two ultimately parted ways by shaking hands before Fred stepped through the portal. Fred also had a close relationship with Will-043, with the two serving particularly closely towards the final months of the Covenant War. When Will was killed during the Onyx Conflict, Fred was quick to avenge his friend's death by killing the Mgalekgolo responsible. Afterwards, Fred grieved the death of Will and had some amount of difficulty with suppressing the rage he felt towards his Covenant attackers.[72]

Like several other Spartan-IIs, Fred was initially wary of the abilities of the Spartan-IIIs. However, after witnessing their skill in combat during the Battle of Onyx, Fred was quick to accept them as fellow Spartans and welcomed Lucy-B091, Tom-B292, Ash-G099, Olivia-G291, and Mark-G313 as members of Blue Team; Fred noted that despite the young age of the Spartan-IIIs, he and the rest of the Spartan-IIs had also participated in combat operations at similar ages.[74] After Ash, Mark, and Olivia were transferred to a different unit, Fred admitted that he and the rest of Blue Team would miss them.[93] Having been largely raised by them throughout his childhood and his career as a Spartan-II, Fred considered Halsey and Mendez as maternal and paternal figures, respectively, and deeply respected them both.[115]

A superb soldier even for a Spartan-II and an excellent strategist, Fred's quick thinking has ensured his success in battle on numerous occasions.[108] While Fred's combat prowess is never subject to question, his true specialty lies in strategy and leadership.[4] During training contests, he almost always came in second place, with John-117 usually coming in first. John believed that Fred had the skill to come in first in these competitions, but Fred did not care for the resulting attention.[2] While John assumed that Fred had the ability to rival himself in any set of skills, Fred lacked John's inherent luck.[108] Due to his extensive training from Franklin Mendez, Fred was highly skilled in evasive movement and is able to easily avoid sniper fire in a combat environment.[87]

Frederic-104 stands at 216.3 centimeters (7 feet and 1.2 inches) with his armor and weighs 129.6 kilograms (286 pounds) without his armor.[1] His face is described to be slender and handsome, with rugged features, a narrow nose, and covered in numerous scars. Fred has pensive blue-green eyes and thin eye brows, with high cheekbones.[3]Veta Lopis noted that there was a sensitivity in his expression and that he was unexpectedly attractive for a Spartan.[3] Fred has black hair with streaks of silver that first appeared after he underwent his augmentation procedures; he also has a noticeable scar that runs up the center of his hairline. When Fred was fourteen years of age, John-117 noted that he was "not too short or tall", slightly shorter than John, and neither too muscular, nor too slim. John-117 remarked that if any member of Blue Team could blend into a crowd, it would be Fred.[2] Even prior to his augmentations, in 2523 at the age of twelve, Fred was tall and fit, appearing to be in his late teens or early twenties.[123]

"Otherwise, you just approach it like you do any other part—do the research, the history on the character, and figure out what his relationship is like with the Chief—and that sort of informs what it's going to sound like and then it's a collaborative process with everybody."

Frederic-104 first debuted in Halo: The Fall of Reach, released in 2001, and has since gained significant popularity.[128] However, he did not make his first in-game appearance until 2015 in Halo 5: Guardians, where he appears as one of the game's eight playable characters. His unique base attributes are faster shield and health regeneration and the ability to carry one extra frag grenade.[111] His appearance in the game was first alluded in the Halo 5: Guardians Multiplayer Beta, where the Centurion armor also donned by Fred had "104" stenciled on the chest plate in Braille.[132]

↑Fred is depicted with brown hair in The Package and Halo: Fall of Reach - Boot Camp.

↑Halo: The Fall of Reach — The Animated Series depicts Fred, John, Kelly, Sam, and Linda taking a Pelican to board Unrelenting, with all five boarding the warship. However, this contrasts from other depictions of the event and is regarded as non-canon, particularly as the animated series was intended to serve as an introduction to the members of Blue Team playable in Halo 5: Guardians.

↑Fred is erroneously addressed as a Lieutenant as of the Battle of Earth in the quoted short piece featured in the Adjunct section of the 2010 reprint of Halo: First Strike. He was actually not promoted to the rank of lieutenant, junior grade until the conclusion of the Battle of Onyx.